Big week of books, boys and girls! I had trouble not wielding the I&N Demand designation this time around. I ain’t complaining; but I am cutting this intro short so I can get to the good stuff. To it.

Days of Hate #8 (Image): I&N Demand #7 was brooding, heavy for the wait of it all, and, in that, emotionally affecting enough–the result of the dramatic ménage à trois of Aleš Kot, Danijel Žeželj, and Jordie Bellaire–to demand immediately a 22 I&N 22 from me, awash in a sympathetic afterglow. I want to feel that again. And again.

Evolution #10 (Image)

Ice Cream Man #7 (Image)

Eleven to Eternity #11 (Image)

Skyward #6 (Image): I&N Demand So thrown by the sacrifice, I 22 I&N 22’d #5, another high-flying, peril-full issue from Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela, and Simon Bowland. Now, it’s time to see if Willa–her father’s journal in her hands and a heavy, heavy mandate in her heart–will follow through, if she will do what she needs to do–which is to, you know, fix.the.world. #staygrounded

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand Re: #4: Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart serve up some seriously strong women with a lop-sided sack of ineffectual men as garnish. Yeah, the bros are silly sideshows, supplementing the driving feminaction with neutered passivity. But, in the end, the fantasy world in which they’ve been living is a meticulously-plotted perversion of reality, molded by one of their own: it’s, ironically, a phallic safe space hurtling through the heavens. But now that the heroes are woke, that safe space is going to fill up mighty fast–if not with fists, certainly with equally as menacing questions that could blow the ship out of the fucking sky. Man, I can’t wait for answers!

Ether: The Copper Golems #5 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand I knew the end was coming, but that knowledge hasn’t made any softer the blow of the prospect of turning the final page of this inspired, imaginative, and innovative arc of the magical Ether mythos. David Rubín’s ever-moving map of Matt Kindt’s one-of-a-kind mind has led to this; and I, for one, will eagerly yet apprehensively turn every page, and with the last, reflecting, will find satisfaction in knowing that, in having read Ether, I’ve stood atop the comic book equivalent of Everest.

Batman #55 (DC): I&N Demand Breaking News Alert: President Trump has ordered the release of FISA documents, text messages, notes, and other goodies related to the prostate-tickling probe into Russian collusion. And, wouldn’t you know, on the heels of that order, here comes Batman #55, featuring the undeniably Russian KGBeast. Coincidence? I think so. Still, Tom King and Tony S. Daniel better be ready for a tweetstorm–one from a rapidly moving front of loyal readers celebrating what’ll probably be another undeniably brilliant issue of Batman.

Batman: Damned #1 (DC)

Mister Miracle #11 (DC): I&N Demand Mister Miracle is an emotional inter-dimensional teleportation device, and, boy, am I enjoying the ride–in spite of/especially because of the hitting so close to home with the thoughtfully-wrought family dynamic, fraught with effectually infinite frustration and nod-off-and-you’ll-miss-’em microscopic moments of joy. Toss in the, you know, high stakes of the Highfather’s suicidal stratagem, and, well, it is what it is, mister: another goddamned miracle from Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Re: #11: This cover offers up a uneasy inevitability. I’m already feeling it weighing down my arms, my legs–and I’m not even holding the damn thing. Ugh. That menacing sentence: “Darkseid is.” I mean, I know what he can be, and that’s freaking me the fuck out. But, you know–you know what? I am. I am, too. And I know what I am: I am scared. Yeah. I’m not sure I want to read this.

Pearl #2 (DC/Jinxworld)

The Wild Storm #17 (DC)

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (Marvel)

The Immortal Hulk #6 (Marvel)

Venom #6 (Marvel)

Black Badge #2 (BOOM!): I&N Demand [Due to a quirk in my reading/writing schedule, I wrote a review for BB #1 back in my I&N Store post for books out on 8/8. I’m reprinting it here because it reflects well my initial and my enduring reaction to the superlative first issue.]

I’m kind of a Kindt junkie, and, logically, following with more figurative language, Black Badge is my next fix–oh, and how satisfying #1 was. Exploiting the same chemical formula that worked so well in the intoxicatingly agitative Grass Kings–Kindt+Jenkins^2=masterfully mature storytelling and a well-deserved Eisner nom–Black Badge bursts onto the scene like a nostalgia bomb with a perfectly-paced adventure that calls to mind the ubiquitous kidventure movies of the ’80s (Stand by Me and The Explorers were two of my faves) and mirrors those games my friends and I used to play on the farm, as we’d battle imaginary Nazis or Russians a la Where Eagles Dare or Red Dawn. These kids, however, aren’t playing a game–and neither is the creative team: this is some dark stuff; and like good little scouts, we best be prepared for more. See: “Nobody can do what [they] can do. No one can go where [they] can go.” (Hey! you say? “They”? Doubled for your pleasure, fair reader! OK, you got me: mostly for mine.) For the week [of 8/8], Black Badge #1 is #1 with a bullet drone strike.

Re: anticipating #2, recalling the last page of #1: I’m all-in on the mission. I’m the Fifth Badger headed for the bus. Well, the pre-teen I–drawn out so brilliantly by Kindt and the Jenkinses–am, anyway.

Scott. Escape reader.* Comic book in back pocket, crinkled cover hanging on by a staple. A penchant for mud pies.

I know, I know: you want to know which comics are worth your time and money this week. I mean, that is why you’re here, right? Don’t worry–I’ve got you covered. Without further ado, uh, don’t read too quickly–or you’ll miss the good stuff. I mean, that’s why you’re here. Right?

Evolution #9 (Image)

Gideon Falls #6 (Image): I&N Demand Five Five Five Five Five–what a fucking ride. Jeff Lemire plants more and more seeds, revealing further the investment the characters have in the still-burgeoning mystery of the Black Barn; and, in the end, he opens the door to those characters’–and to our–greatest fears; and those fears, friends, are red. Blood. Red. And the pace, the pulse, the arrhythmic beat that drives the blood, is set by the heart of the book: Andrea Sorrentino’s stunningly disorienting layouts, which, along with Dave Stewart’s palpitating palette, bring the reader into that psychotic space–into the madness, the anxiety, and, yes, into the aforementioned fear–not unlike how, in Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad exploits his overwrought prose to take his reader on a necessarily arduous journey of self-reflection; and, as we hold #6, we’ll be holding hands with the creators, with the characters–and together, we’ll head into the red.

The Gravediggers Union #9 (Image)

Ice Cream Man #6 (Image)

Mage: The Hero Denied #11 (Image)

Skyward #5 (Image): I&N Demand Look! Up in the sky! It’s a girl–and she can fly! While another comic’s she could fly, this one can, kinda, thanks to the gravity fail that befell the planet. Four issues in Joe Henderson’s shown a propensity for using the requisite twenty-two in a measured manner, keeping himself grounded in his high-sky “Low-G” world. It’s a smart approach, his pushing Willa forward, staying tethered to Willa; doing so sustains the relationship we have with her and amplifies the issue-focused–and issue-to-issue–tension, as, in this case, she continues to navigate her relationship with her father–not unlike her making her way through the city like some angelic aerialist–in the face of her accidentally selling him out. Lee Garbett’s artwork–with colors by Antonio Fabela–sells well the weightlessness of the characters yet doesn’t undermine the gravity of the situation. The best evidence: the dangerous yet beautiful double-page spread and the final page turn. Enough to take your breath away.

The Weatherman #3 (Image)

The Wicked & The Divine #38 (Image)

Ether: The Copper Golems #4 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand I can’t get enough of what Matt Kindt and David Rubín are doing with Ether: The Copper Golems. It’s a gift is what it is: it’s Kindt coaxing the very best out of a game Rubín in order to emphatically express his confidence in humanity. Every page–the meticulous and magical arrangement of joyful words and vibrant colors–exudes love; each issue is a clarion call to us readers–us lucky readers–to aspire to be more because inherently we are more. There’s a legacy–it’s literary, it’s artistic, it’s philosophical, it’s spiritual–that is our burden and our destiny. I see it: it’s “sweetness and light”–and it’s beautiful. I certainly loved #3 enough to make it the subject of my inaugural 22 I&N 22. Something–wait, no, it’s someone–more: someones–certainly Kindt and Rubín, their story resonating still–are telling me that I’m going to love this one, too.

Batman #53 (DC): I&N Demand At this point, there’s very little to say as to why Batman is I&N Demand. “Tom King’s at the top of his game.” “Tom King is in complete control of blah blah blah.” “Tom is the King of yada yada.” It’s all been said. For the love of all that’s holy, he’s got nothing left to prove. Bruce Wayne, on the other hand, has something to prove–he said as much at the end of #52; and I can’t wait to hear it. (To be fair, I’ll reserve my judgment until after reading; but I am inclined to believe whatever he says. I’ve been conditioned.) I can’t wait to see it, either: Lee Weeks’ work is stunning–with Elizabeth Breitweiser’s colors, it’s iceconic–with intricate panel work–that Bat vs. Freeze through the various Ice Ages is fire; and Bat’s ground and pound is bloody cold, man, reminiscent of Mark “The Hammer” Coleman–and massive splashes, each a frozen tableau that takes the temperature down, down, down, deep into the cold black of Bruce’s guilt. (Oh, those blacks tho.) So, as I initially insisted: it’s just another week in King’s run–I&N Demand, in perpetuity.

Pearl #1 (DC)

The Wild Storm #16 (DC)

Babyteeth #12 (Aftershock): I&N Demand Raining blood. Raining. Goddamned. Blood. That’s so fucking metal! But right in the middle of that shit, Sadie and Clark, under an “umbrella-ella-ella ay ay ay.” Pop! Yup: that was a vessel in my brain bursting from the strain of having to reconcile this blasphemous–and pretty fucking funny–genrerational mash-up! Great, great Garry Brown cover. It shows that a mother will protect her child from the nastiest weather; and Sadie, well, she wants her baby back, baby back, baby back–and she’ll go through hell to get him. Donny Cates continues to craft Babyteeth as a fiery epic that flashes its horns and stealthily smirks at the true believers who flash ’em back in a sign of Satanic solidarity. I am “awaiting the hour of reprisal” with my horns held high. Babyteeth “shall [no doubt] reign in blood.”